Hi guys!
Well half of day two is done and it has been another mammoth, but great day so far – we are definitely amped and ready for the evening of racing coming up!
It’s not so hot today (apparently a storm is brewing and will come in tonight), but the water cooler is still getting thrashed – lucky we have Andy Milligan on hand to fill it for us (you should ask him the story about how he has been filling it the next time you see him (which involved him coming back soaking wet) … I think they have now devised a better system!
The team is all holding up well despite some challenges – Laura has a rotten cold and Nick is very tender after his crash. However team bonding is going well, particularly Anton and Josh who are keeping things close........
Anyway, this morning’s session saw the Elite Sprint Qualifying and it was fantastic to see Southland at the top of the leader board in the Women’s Sprints – Steph and Tarsh 1st and 2nd qualifiers, both sailing through the ¼ finals and into the semis tonight.
Will keep the facebook page updated with news from this evening’s races!
In the Men’s Qualifying we had a great run, ending up with four Southlanders in the top 8 – Matt, Eddie, Jeremy and Ben. Unfortunately they all rode each other in the ¼’s, with Matt and Eddie overcoming strong challenges from their fellow team mates to make it through to tonight’s semis. In the 5th – 8th final Jem 6th and Ben 7th (unconfirmed as no results have been given for this yet).
In the U19 Individual Pursuits we had a good handful of riders competing, with Laura stretching her congested lungs well to make the bronze ride off in the Women’s competition, which is tonight. We all cringed watching Nick start with his injured wrist, but he rode gallantly to place 5th and deserves a small period of rest and recuperation after a torrid few days.
The U19 Men’s Keirin heats were exciting, with Mike Culling sailing through to the semis no trouble, and Jake Milligan riding strongly into the semi via the repecharge.
The very long morning session finished off with heats for the U19 women’s Scratch Race. Laura and Bronwyn placed themselves well in their heat to make the final and poor Makayla made a mistake which she will never repeat, to just miss out!
And that is the end of my quick report. We haven’t made it home between sessions today and it is nearly time to crack back into it for tonight, so I will sign off and help these sprinters get ready!
Thanks for reading and all the support. We are having a great time and I’m super proud of all the team.
More tomorrow!!
P.S – the latest points shield up date is: Southland 101 points, WCNI 51, Auckland 33. We are still chipping away!!